All digital phase lock loop and method for controlling phase lock loop

ABSTRACT

An all digital phase lock loop is disclosed, including a digitally controlled oscillator, a phase detector, and a loop filter. The digitally controlled oscillator is controlled by an oscillator tuning word to generate a variable signal. The oscillator tuning word includes a first tuning word and a second tuning word, where the frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator, capable to be adjusted by the second tuning word, is broader than that capable to be adjusted by the first tuning word. The phase detector detects a phase error between the variable signal and a reference signal. The phase error is received by the loop filter to output the oscillator tuning word. The loop filter has several stages of the low pass filters and a modification circuit. The modification circuit detects two filter outputs from two low pass filters among the filters and accordingly adjusts the second tuning word.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a fast locked all digital phase lock loop and control method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

All digital phase lock loop (PLL) technology is one of the major technological breakthroughs for wireless communication, because it may be implemented easier in system on chip (SOC) devices manufactured by advanced semiconductor process than the analog phase lock loop. However, designing an all digital PLL with features such as fast locking and low phase noise is challenging.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional all digital phase lock loop viewed in the phase domain. Following, a digital phase lock loop is briefly introduced. However, for a more detailed description of the digital phase lock loop in FIG. 1, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. No. 7,145,399.

The phase error φ_(E) between the variable signal f_(v) and reference signal f_(ref) can be determined by the phase detector 115. As shown in FIG. 1, the phase detector 115 has three inputs, where one input is provided by inputting the reference signal f_(ref) to the reference phase accumulator 105 and is regarded as the phase of the reference signal f_(ref). Another input is provided by inputting the variable signal f_(v) to the oscillator phase accumulator 140 and the sampler 145 and is regarded as the phase of the variable signal f_(v). The last input is the fractional phase error between the variable signal f_(v) and reference signal f_(ref). The sum of the three inputs is the phase error φ_(E).

The loop filter 120 filters the phase error φ_(E) and/or adjusts the magnitude of phase error φ_(E). The loop filter 120 generates an oscillator tuning word (OTW) to modify the output of a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) 125, i.e. the variable signal f_(v).

In the current design of the all digital phase lock loops, gear shift mechanism and type II and higher order loop filters are utilized for achieving the purposes of fast locking and low phase noise. In U.S. Pub. No. 2003/0234693, an all digital phase lock loop is disclosed.

However, designers still must design an adaptive all digital phase lock loop.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary embodiment consistent with the invention, there is provided an all digital phase lock loop is disclosed, comprising a digitally controlled oscillator, a phase detector, and a loop filter. The digitally controlled oscillator is controlled by an oscillator tuning word to generate a variable signal. The oscillator tuning word comprises a first tuning word and a second tuning word, where the frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator capable to be adjusted by the second tuning word is broader than that capable to be adjusted by the first tuning word. The phase detector detects a phase error between the variable signal and a reference signal. The phase error is received by the loop filter to output the oscillator tuning word. The loop filter has several stages of the low pass filters and a modification circuit. The modification circuit detects two filter outputs from two low pass filters among the filters and accordingly adjusts the second tuning word.

An exemplary embodiment consistent with the invention, there is provided a control method for a phase lock loop is disclosed, comprising low pass filtering a phase error for several times to generate an oscillator tuning word to control a digitally controlled oscillator, wherein the oscillator tuning word comprises a first tuning word and a second tuning word, and the frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator, capable to be adjusted by the second tuning word, is broader than that capable to be adjusted by the first tuning word; detecting two filter outputs of a front low pass filter and a back low pass filter; determining whether the two filter outputs meet a predetermined condition; adjusting the second tuning word when the two filter outputs meet the predetermined condition.

A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional all digital phase lock loop viewed in the phase domain.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a loop filter 600 consistent with the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a decision circuit 700 consistent with the invention

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of part of a digitally controlled oscillator 800.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary embodiment of a loop filter 800 consistent with the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart 900 of an exemplary embodiment of a control method for a phase lock loop consistent with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The following description refers to the accompanying drawings in which the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise represented. The implementations set forth in the following description of exemplary embodiments consistent with the present invention do not represent all implementations consistent with the invention. Instead, they are merely examples of systems and methods consistent with aspects related to the invention as recited in the appended claims.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a loop filter 600 consistent with the invention. The loop filter 600 receives the phase error φ_(E) and accordingly controls a digitally controlled oscillator. When the loop filter 120 of FIG. 1 is replaced by the loop filter 600, an all digital phase lock loop consistent with the invention is generated. The loop filter 600 of FIG. 2 outputs an oscillator tuning word comprising a process-voltage-temperature (PVT) tuning word, an acquisition (ACQ) tuning word, and a tracking (ACK) tuning word. For example, the oscillator tuning word output by the loop filter 600 has 22 bits, OTW[0:21], wherein the 8 bits OTW[14:21] is the PVT tuning word, the 8 bits OTW[6:13] is the ACQ tuning word, and the 6 bits OTW[0:5] is the ACK tuning word. The tracking tuning word is generated based on the sum of the output of a multiplier 604 and the accumulated value from an accumulator 608. The frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator capable to be adjusted by the PVT tuning word is large and thus accordingly, the adjustment step is also large. The PVT tuning word generally reduces the bad effect due to the Process-Voltage-Temperature variations of the chip. The frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator capable to be adjusted by the ACK tuning word is small and thus accordingly, the accuracy of adjustment is large. The ACK tuning word is used for calibrating the frequency of the all digital phase lock loop when tracking the carrier signal. The frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator capable to be adjusted by the ACQ tuning word and corresponding accuracy of adjustment is within the average. The ACQ tuning word is used for calibrating the frequency of the all digital phase lock loop when determining the frequency channel.

The loop filter 600 of FIG. 2 has a plurality of stages of the low pass filters 602 a-602 c. In FIG. 2, each low pass filter is an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter or a finite impulse response (FIR) filter. The output of the low pass filter 602 c can be transmitted to a multiplier 604 to be multiplied with a loop gain α. The loop gain α also can be applied to other low pass filters to adjust the filter output of each low pass filter. The phase error φ_(E) can be multiplied with a loop gain β, by a multiplier 606, and then transmitted to the accumulator 608. The sum of the multiplier 604 and accumulator 608 generates the tracking tuning word. In a word, the low pass filters 602 a to 602 c and the multiplier 604 forms a type II higher order filter and its time response is slower because the phase error φ_(E) is processed by several stages of the low pass filters and accordingly the tracking tuning word is affected by the phase error φ_(E). The multiplier 606 and accumulator 608 provide a faster path for the phase error φ_(E) to affect the tracking tuning word.

The loop filter 600 of FIG. 2 further comprises two modification circuits 610 a and 610 b. The modification circuit 610 a has two decision circuits, 6104 a and 6106 a, an accumulator 6102 a and an adder 6108 a. The modification circuit 610 b has two decision circuits, 6104 b and 6106 b, an accumulator 6102 b and an adder 6108 b. Although the function block diagrams of the modification circuits 610 a and 610 b shown in FIG. 2 are the same as each other, the circuits of the same function block may be implemented by different circuits.

The modification circuit 610 a directly detects the outputs of the low pass filters 602 a and 602 b. Once the modification circuit 610 a detects that the outputs of the low pass filters 602 a and 602 b meet a predetermined condition, the modification circuit 610 a modifies the PVT tuning word via the adder 612. Thus, the frequency of the all digital phase lock loop, i.e. the frequency of the variable signal f_(v), can be significantly changed.

The modification circuit 610 b directly detects the output of the low pass filter 602 b and indirectly detects the output of the last stage of the low pass filter, i.e. the low pass filter 602 c, via the multiplier 604 and adder 618. Once the modification circuit 610 b detects that the outputs of the low pass filters 602 b and 602 c meet a predetermined condition, the modification circuit 610 b modifies the ACQ tuning word, wherein the predetermined condition of the modification circuit 610 a may be the same as or different from the predetermined condition of the modification circuit 610 b.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a decision circuit 700 consistent with the invention. The decision circuit shown in FIG. 3 can be applied to the decision circuit 6104 a, 6104 b, 6106 a or 6106 b. The comparator 702 compares the input of the decision circuit 700 and a predetermined upper bond (UPB), and the comparator 704 compares the input of the decision circuit 700 and a predetermined lower bond (LWB). The output of the comparator 702 or comparator 704 is 1 or −1, and the sum of the two outputs, by the adder 706, is the output of the decision circuit 700. The function of the decision circuit 700 is described in the following. If the input of the decision circuit 700 is higher than the UPB, the output of the decision circuit 700 is 1. If the input of the decision circuit 700 is lower than the LWB, the output of the decision circuit 700 is −1. If the input of the decision circuit 700 is between the LWB and UPB, the output of the decision circuit 700 is 0. If the output of the decision circuit 700 varies acutely, the input of the decision circuit 700 can be multiplied with a parameter λ to decrease the variation of the output of the decision circuit 700.

Take the modification circuit 610 b in FIG. 2 for example, if the decision circuits 6104 b and 6106 b adopt the decision circuit 700 in FIG. 3, the UPB and LWB of the decision circuit 6104 b respectively is UPBa and LWBa, and the UPB and LWB of the decision circuit 6106 b respectively is UPBb and LWBb, the function of the modification circuit 610 b is described in the following.

When the phase is approximately locked, i.e., the phase error φ_(E) is very small, the output of the filter 602 b is substantially maintained between UPBa and LWBa, and the output of the filter 602 c is substantially maintained between UPBb and LWBb. Accordingly, the outputs of the decision circuits 6104 b and 6106 b are 0, and the output of the accumulator 6102 b does not change. Thus, the ACQ tuning word is not affected by the output of the accumulator 6102 b.

When the phase error φ_(E) increases, the output of the filter 602 b may diverge from the range between UPBa and LWBa, and the output of the filter 602 c may later diverge from the range between UPBb and LWBb. Since the response of the whole phase lock loop is quite slow, the described two diverging trends are substantially the same. The time delay is because the output of the low pass filter 602 c is generated by low pass filtering the output of the low pass filter 602 b. For example, when the output of the low pass filter 602 b suddenly exceeds UPBa and the output of the low pass filter 602 c is still between the UPBb and LWBb, the output of the decision circuit 6104 b becomes 1, the output of the decision circuit 6106 b is still 0, and the output of the accumulator 6102 b periodically increases by 1 according to the input clock signal. Thus, the modification circuit 610 b periodically increases the ACQ tuning word by 1. The output of the low pass filter 602 c follows the output of the low pass filter 602 b, but the output of the low pass filter 602 c later varies. Once the output of the low pass filter 602 c is larger than UPBb, the outputs of the decision circuits 6104 b and 6106 b are also 1, the accumulator 6102 b stops increasing its output and the modification circuit 610 b also stops increasing the ACQ tuning word. Similarly, when the outputs of the low pass filters 602 b and 602 c decrease, the modification circuit 610 b may periodically decrease the ACQ tuning word and after a period of time, the modification circuit 610 b stops affecting the ACQ tuning word.

In other words, the modification circuit 610 b determines whether the amount of times the low pass filter 602 b is output is too much according to the UPBa and LWBa. Once the amount of times the low pass filter 602 b is output is too much, the modification circuit 610 b roughly adjusts the output frequency of a digitally controlled oscillator. The UPBa and LWBa serve as a stop mechanism for the modification circuit 610 b. In other words, the UPBa and LWBa determines the amount of frequency adjustments.

According to the above description of the modification circuit 610 b, those skilled in the art can easily understand the operation of the modification circuit 610 a. When the modification circuit 610 a determines that the amount of times the low pass filter 602 a is output is too much, the modification circuit 610 a coarsely adjusts the output frequency of a digitally controlled oscillator. The UPBa and LWBa serve as a stop mechanism for the modification circuit 610 a. In other words, the UPBa and LWBa determines the amount of frequency adjustments.

As to the UPB and LWB of each decision circuit, the UPB and LWB are respectively determined based on circuit design or requirement.

The modification circuits 610 a and 610 b quickly and coarsely adjust the output frequency of a digitally controlled oscillator. Without the modification circuits 610 a and 610 b in FIG. 2, the PVT tuning word can only be affected by the carry bit of the ACQ tuning word, and the ACQ tuning word only can be affected by the carry bit of the ACK tuning word. Thus, the PVT tuning word and the ACQ tuning can only be increased by 1 after each phase lock operation. Compared with FIG. 2, the modification circuits 610 a and 610 b provide a mechanism for quickly and coarsely adjusting the output frequency of the digitally controlled oscillator by a large margin. It can be expected that an all digital phase lock loop with the loop filter 600 in FIG. 2 can lock its phase quickly.

Although the loop filter 600 in FIG. 2 is shown by a functional block, the loop filter 600 can be implemented by hardware or software.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of part of a digitally controlled oscillator 800. The digitally controlled oscillator 800 comprises one inductor and a plurality of capacitors, and its output frequency is determined by the following equation: f_(DCO)=1/squr(L*C_(total)), wherein the C_(total) is the sum of the capacitances of activated capacitors. The capacitors in the digitally controlled oscillator 800 are substantially divided into four banks: a PVT bank, an ACQ bank, a tracking bank and a partial tracking bank. The capacitors in the PVT bank are Δ C₀ ^(P) . . . ΔC₇ ^(P), arranged binary-weighted, respectively selected by the control signal d₀ ^(P) . . . d₇ ^(P). The PVT tuning word is applied to some interfaces and the control signal is generated after the PVT tuning word is processed by the interfaces. In other word, the capacitors in the PVT bank are controlled by the PVT tuning word. Similarly, the capacitors in the ACQ bank are controlled by the ACQ tuning word. The capacitors in the tracking band are the same (unit-weighted) and the capacitance of each capacitor is designed as small as possible. The signals d₀ ^(TI) . . . d₆₃ ^(TI) are generated after the tracking tuning word is decoded and processed by some interface. If the capacitance provided by the tracking bank cannot effectively suppress the phase noise, the capacitors in the partial tracking bank can be initiated to provide capacitance. The capacitance of each capacitor in the partial tracking bank is the same as the capacitor in the tracking bank. The partial tracking bank is controlled by a ΣΔ modulator to provide fine capacitance accuracy and the control signal d₀ ^(TF) . . . d₇ ^(TF) is generated by the ΣΔ modulator. Basically, the tracking bank and the partial tracking bank are controlled by the tracking tuning word. As previously described, the PVT tuning word coarsely adjusts the output frequency of the digitally controlled oscillator. The tracking finely adjusts tuning of the output frequency of the digitally controlled oscillator and the ACQ tuning word averagely adjusts the output frequency of the digitally controlled oscillator. Therefore, the smallest capacitor in the PVT bank is larger than the smallest capacitor in the ACQ bank and the smallest capacitor in the ACQ bank is larger than each capacitor in the tracking bank and the partial tracking bank.

Please refer to FIG. 2, wherein the modification circuit 610 a is coupled to the low pass filter 602 a and the low pass filter 602 b, the low pass filter 602 a is a front low pass filter, and the low pass filter 602 b is a back low pass filter to process the filter output of the low pass filter 602 a. Similarly, the modification circuit 610 b is coupled to the low pass filter 602 b and the low pass filter 602 c, the low pass filter 602 b is a front low pass filter, and the low pass filter 602 c is a back low pass filter. Thus, the low pass filter 602 b is the back low pass filter detected by the modification circuit 610 a and the front low pass filter detected by the modification circuit 610 b. However, it is not necessary that the modification circuits 610 a and 610 b detect the same low pass filter. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary embodiment of a loop filter 800 consistent with the invention, wherein the modification circuits 610 a and 610 b do not detect the same low pass filter.

Please also refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 6 for reference. FIG. 6 is a flowchart 900 of an exemplary embodiment of a control method for a phase lock loop consistent with the invention. When an all digital phase lock loop with the loop filter 600 shown in FIG. 2 starts tracking a reference signal, the coarse tracking in the step 902 is first executed, and after a period of time, the fast tracking in the step 904 is executed.

In the step 902, the modification circuits 610 a and 610 b are enabled, and the loop gain α and partial gain β do not change. Thus, the ACQ tuning word may be slightly affected by the carry bit of the tracking tuning word, and may be heavily affected by the modification circuit 610 b. Similarly, the PVT tuning word may be slightly affected by the carry bit of the ACQ tuning word, and may be heavily affected by the modification circuit 610 a.

After a period of time or when the coarse tuning has been substantially finished, the values of the accumulators 6102 a and 6102 b are substantially fixed and the method goes to the step 904. In step 904, the modification circuits 610 a and 610 b are disabled, and the loop gain a and partial gain β can be first increased and then decreased after a period of time. In other words, when executing the step 904, the loop gain a and partial gain β can be the same as the loop gain α and partial gain β in step 902 for a period of time. After that, the phase lock operation is substantially finished, and in order to reduce the noise caused by the phase lock loop, a smaller loop gain α and partial gain β are adopted. The operation for reducing the loop gain α and partial gain β can be implemented at more than one time according to the circuit design and the phase lock speed requirement. It is recommended that the operation of reducing the loop gain α and partial gain β be executed at least two times.

An all digital phase lock loop with higher order loop filters consistent with the invention is provided. The disclosed all digital phase lock loop can reduce the phase noise that is self generated and coarsely and quickly adjust its output frequency to achieve the goal of fast phase lock.

It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the exact construction that has been described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention only be limited by the appended claims. 

1. An all digital phase lock loop, comprising: a digitally controlled oscillator controlled by an oscillator tuning word to generate a variable signal, wherein the oscillator tuning word comprises a first tuning word and a second tuning word, and the frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator, capable to be adjusted by the second tuning word, is broader than that capable to be adjusted by the first tuning word; a phase detector to measure a phase error between the variable signal and a reference signal; and a loop filter receiving the phase error to generate the oscillator tuning word, wherein the loop filter comprises: a plurality of stages of the low pass filters; and a modification circuit to detect two filter outputs from two low pass filters among the filters and accordingly adjust the second tuning word.
 2. The all digital phase lock loop as claimed in claim 1, wherein the digitally controlled oscillator comprises: a plurality of first capacitors with the same capacitance, controlled by the first tuning word; and a plurality of second capacitors controlled by the second tuning word, wherein the capacitance of each second capacitor is larger than the capacitance of the first capacitor.
 3. The all digital phase lock loop as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two detected low pass filters are a front low pass filter and a back low pass filter, and the modification circuit comprises: a first decision circuit to detect the filter output of the back filter and accordingly output a first variation; a second decision circuit to detect the filter output of the front filter and accordingly output a second variation; and an accumulator to accumulate the difference between the first variation and the second variation and accordingly adjust the second tuning word.
 4. The all digital phase lock loop as claimed in claim 1, wherein the oscillator tuning word further comprises a third tuning word, the frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator, capable to be adjusted by the third tuning word, is broader than that capable to be adjusted by the second tuning word, the modification circuit is a first modification circuit, and the all digital phase lock loop further comprises: a second modification circuit to directly detect two filter outputs from two low pass filters, among the low pass filters, and adjust the third tuning word when the two filter outputs meet a predetermined condition.
 5. The all digital phase lock loop as claimed in claim 4, wherein a front filter output detected by the first modification circuit is the back filter output detected by the second modification circuit.
 6. The all digital phase lock loop as claimed in claim 4, wherein a front filter output detected by the first modification circuit is not the back filter output detected by the second modification circuit.
 7. The all digital phase lock loop as claimed in claim 1, wherein the loop filter further comprises a multiplier serving as a loop gain to adjust the oscillator tuning word.
 8. The all digital phase lock loop as claimed in claim 1, wherein each low pass filter is an infinite impulse response filter or a finite impulse response filter.
 9. A control method for a phase lock loop, comprising: low pass filtering a phase error for several times to generate an oscillator tuning word to control a digitally controlled oscillator, wherein the oscillator tuning word comprises a first tuning word and a second tuning word, and the frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator, capable to be adjusted by the second tuning word, is broader than that capable to be adjusted by the first tuning word; detecting two filter outputs of a front low pass filter and a back low pass filter; determining whether the two filter outputs meet a predetermined condition; and adjusting the second tuning word when the two filter outputs meet the predetermined condition.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the oscillator tuning word further comprises a third tuning word, the frequency range of the digitally controlled oscillator, capable to be adjusted by the third tuning word, is broader than that capable to be adjusted by the second tuning word, the method further comprises: detecting two filter outputs of another front low pass filter and another back low pass filter; and adjusting the third tuning word when the two filter outputs of the another front low pass filter and the another back low pass filter meet another predetermined condition.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: providing a loop gain to adjust the oscillator tuning word.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the loop gain is a first loop gain, and the method further comprises: stopping to determine whether the two filter outputs meet the predetermined condition; and providing a second loop gain smaller than the first loop gain to adjust the last filter output after determining whether the two filter outputs meet the predetermined condition is stopped.
 13. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the step of adjusting comprises: when the filter output of the front low pass filter exceeds a first predetermined value, the second tuning word changes toward to a first way; when the filter output of the front low pass filter is lower than a second predetermined value, the second tuning word changes toward to a second way opposite to the first way; when the filter output of the back low pass filter exceeds a third predetermined value, the second tuning word changes toward to the second way; when the filter output of the back low pass filter is lower than a fourth predetermined value, the second tuning word changes toward to the first way; and when the value of an accumulator has not changed for a predetermined period of time, the step of adjusting is stopped. 